Chapter 1

As we walked into the empty lodge-like entrance to my favorite ice rink, my friend Ruthanne asked, "have you ever wished to be like the most popular girl at school?"
I replied with a, "no, never. WHY? have you?"
"yeah, actually," she smiled sheepishly, "I think it would be fun!"
"What? the scandals, lies, rumors, stalkers, haters? Sure." I laugh and walk to a bench to lace up.
"ha. Thanks Caitlin," she says sarcastically.
"yep. You should know better, you know." I laugh, "where is everybody?" I ask slowly, "It's usually packed in here."
"Well I heard there's an MJ memorial down the street," she says, sounding a little fake. I don't think anything of it, trying to stay in a good mood.
"oh. Well, you ready?" I say, always wanting to be the first out on the ice. She nods and we skate out together.
"But seriously Caitlin, rumor has it, she has met Sidney Crosby." She is the name basically everyone knows Brittny Crum as. She's only the bitchiest, richest, most annoying girl in the whole school. And people love her. It's dumb.
"So what? I bet he thought she was a bitch." I say, kinda jealous since most of the rumors about the infamous Brittny Crum are true.
"Yeah, you're right," Ruthanne said, skating backwards an odd look on her face.
Just then I hear a "happy birthday Caitlin!" in an oddly familiar voice. Turning around, the most gorgeous face is looking at me. Sidney Crosby just wished me a happy birthday. Suddenly I'm flat on the ice. Ruthanne gasps and stifles a laugh while Sidney helps me up.
"Sorry," he apologizes, "I didn't mean to startle you." I smile helplessly, blushing because of my deathly embarrassment. I just fainted in front of Sidney Crosby. "Happy Birthday," he says again.
"thanks." I say smiling--what else can you do in the presence of Sidney Crosby!? "Finally 18!' I exclaim, trying to sound normal when it's nearly impossible to contain myself from jumping around.
When I'm finally able to sort through all the thoughts in my head I look at Ruthanne who is across the ice, nonchalantly staring. I glare at her, she set all of this up! "RUTHANNE!" I yell across the ice. She shrugs, a teasing smile on her face.
"sorry," I turn back to Sidney. "She knows I hate surprises." As I say this, a zillion people begin to file onto the ice.
"I'm the same way," he says, picking up my hand from where it dangled at my side. I kinda glance at it nervously. He notices, but doesn't say anything, knowing it would make things awkward. I smile up at him, noticing for the first time how much shorter than him I really am. "Do you, want to go get a hot chocolate?" He asks slowly, looking a little nervous.
"um. Sure." I say, still not sure of myself around him. We pass Ruthanne on our way off the ice, she gives me a Go Get 'im Tiger! wink. I smile to myself, looking around at all the staring faces. Including, Brittny Crum, who glares at me, flips her hair, then skates away to start another rumor I'm sure. Oh well, I decide, right now I need to focus on not doing something stupid.
We stand at the concession stand in the corner and I pull out money for my hot chocolate. Sidney quickly slaps his down saying "2 please," before I can even protest. I decide not to say anything about it and we gather our drinks and go to a secluded booth in the corner.
"Wow." I say, "this isn't how I imagined meeting Sidney Crosby." We both laugh and sip on our drink.
"It is different. But, Ruthanne is a devious friend. For both of us," he says.
"wait, you two know each other?" I ask suspiciously.
"From parties. Somehow we always end up at the same ones. She told me about your birthday coming up and how much it would mean to you if I could come out. I figured it would be fun to come meet you. All she ever talks about is things that you two have done together." I smile.
"That's Ruthanne for ya," I say.
"she's definitely different," he says laughing. I nod and sip my hot cocoa again. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was. My cup was only half full now. "So, how do you like your birthday party so far?" He asks.
"Wait, this is a party?" I ask just realizing why so many people from school were here.
"Yeah," he laughs, "it is. Ruthanne rented out the rink."
I look down feeling dumb. "Wow. It's really nice. Thanks for coming," I add.
"No problem." He says, taking the last gulp of his drink. I do the same thing, only having a sip or two left. "Do you want another?" he asks. I shake my head, if I drink another, I'll have to pee soon.
"Let's go skate," I say.
"sounds good to me." He says.
On the ice we talk about random things, just going with the flow around in circles on the ice. "You know, I bet this feels weird for you."
"what?" he asks.
"Skating slowly in circles." I laugh.
"Yeah, it isn't normal for me," he turns around, skating backwards in front of me, holding my hands. "So, I was thinking..." he says, but trails off, looking away suddenly, a panic in his eyes.
"what?" I ask.
"um. Do you want to go out tonight? Meet some of the guys. Hang out. Party?" He says quicklys, skating backwards more quickly now.
"sure." I say, "but what's wrong."
"There's someone here." He says pulling me along. When we reach the runway like exit, he steps off the ice and gently tugs my arm. He walks as quickly as he can, which is faster than me, and he stands with his back to the windows, looking at the jukebox.
"who?" I ask. He doesn't reply, just scrolling through the songs nonchalantly, trying to look inconspicuous. "who!?" I ask again.
"Me." Someone behind me says.